we like it wild: ranunculus

The return of one of our favorites to local farms here in California makes the cool and rainy month of January (and we’ve had some rain this week!) a bit brighter. When ranunculus come back into season their size and color variations can’t be beat. Sometimes there are flowers within one family that have such a wide range of personalities that they can play a variety of venues. The ranunculus is that flower for us. They can be as dense, intense and petal-packed as a garden rose, or as light and airy as tissue-weight poppies. Their arching buds and frilly leaves make amazing additions to any arrangement.
The ranunculus is from the same family as the buttercup and a relative of the anemone, but has a more complex petal pattern and comes in a wider variety of colors. They are a tuberous-rooted plant and the most common variety used as a cut flower is the Ranunculus Asiaticus, or Persian Buttercup. The name comes from the Latin “rana”, meaning “frog” (after the moist environments where many members of the Ranunculaceae family typically grow). We raided our image archives for some of our favorite ranunculus arrangements and to show you the wide variety of colors these beauties come in.

Ranuncs from the farmer’s market are perfect (and inexpensive) for creating easy displays around your home. A bright row of jewel toned clusters makes a beautiful centerpiece substitute- create bouquets in your hand by lining up the blossoms, cut short, and place in your favorite small cups. For a more gardeny feel leave them long and leafy and showcase individual stems in a collection of clear glass bottles.

We love that these flowers can be just as at home on the kitchen table with a few sprigs of green as they are with some more unusual pairings, such as succulents or citrus fruits. A cluster of pristine white ranunculus could easily be mistaken for garden roses upon first glance, and the multitude of petals, sometimes 25 rows deep, adds amazing depth to a bouquet. As an added bonus they usually last for a couple of weeks, and like us they get better as they age.

CLICK HERE for more lovely ranunculus images and arrangements after the jump!

I had time to visit one last blog before I have to go pick up my son from school and I picked Design Sponge. I totally made the right choice because this post is just beautiful. Ranunculus are one of my favorite flowers and those pictures are stunning.

These are the only cut flowers I really love. BUT: Just yesterday I saw them in a catalog for bulbs and seeds and hell yes, I’m going to order like $100 worth of it and floor my balcony with them. Ranunculus really beats all those exotic frailties.

Who would have thought they’d even look good with succulents! I never would have thought to put these two favorites together. I’ve loved Ranunculus in the yard for so long but I’ve never had them as cut flowers. I’ll have to change that for sure.

Hello! I LOVE these flowers, and have been trying to get hold of their name since my mum got a bunch of them as a leaving present. i would love them for my wedding which is in December in the UK, will they be in season here? Help!

Oh man, I love ranunculus to the point of obsession so your post totally made my day. I’ve been going a bit garden/flower crazy this last week as winter continues to drag on here in Canada but, ranunculus! Who can be unhappy with ranunculus! Thanks!

Wow. Love the unique elements in each of these arrangements. Lucky are those who live in the land of citrus trees!! I live in the north, so we tend to use a lot of twigs and berries this time of year–it’s all good.

Anyone living near southern California should definitely visit The Flower Fields, which is in Carlsbad, for their annual ranunculus crop (from March to May). It is simply breathtaking!
As for care, i work with flowers and have found that they like very little water, only a couple of inches at most (sort of like tulips, daffodils, poppies, and anemones), otherwise they tend to droop. Sometimes their little heads are just going to flop over, though, no matter what you do– especially if there is a nick or other weakness in the stem or the petals are simply too heavy for it. . . Some solutions are to prop up the flower’s head by nestling it in some greens (rose geranium, lemon leaf, or something else sturdy like that); otherwise, you can always just snip off the flower from the stem and float it in water until it falls apart (5 days or so, usually). They look really lovely that way :)

Anyway, thanks for the post! These arrangements are so beautiful, and the photos are great.

These flowers are absolutely goregous! I’ve actually seen them before but never knew what they were called.

I am curious though: are they similar to the paperwhite bulbs that you featured just a month or two ago? I would love to grow these myself, and I was just wondering if they could be grown in the same way with the glass jar and pebbles, or with the usual pot and soil?

My cousin sent me this link, and I’m so glad that she did! I enjoy the femininity of ranunculus and actually have a bouquet of lavendar speckled white ones in my flat. I plan on using them in my wedding…

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